The Great Pringles Conspiracy
by MildlyInsane
Summary: Holtzmann and Patty are kidnapped and held hostage by two men demanding the remaining Ghostbusters locate and interrogate the ghost of their dead associate in exchange for Holtzmann's and Patty's safe return. The group learns that ordinary men can be far more frightening than the spirits of the dead and that sometimes ghosts end up being allies rather than villains.
1. Chapter 1

**The Great Pringles Conspiracy**

 **Summary: Holtzmann and Patty are kidnapped and held hostage by two men demanding the remaining Ghostbusters locate and interrogate the ghost of their dead associate in exchange for Holtzmann's and Patty's safe return. The group learns that ordinary men can be far more frightening than the spirits of the dead and that sometimes ghosts end up being allies rather than villains. Erin and Abby are minor characters - this is mostly Holtzmann's and Patty's story.**

 **Notes: A lot of what Erin and Abby are up to during this story happens off the page. It's implied that they are out working on helping fix this situation, but I haven't written any chapters from either of their points of view. This story is about Holtzmann and Patty going through a very serious, very frightening situation together. My major motivation in writing this was to put my two favorite characters into a situation where they were vulnerable and during which they would need to rely on each other for emotional support and/or protection.**

 **Furthermore - I don't have any specific ship-pairing going on in this - I like to keep characters mostly canon in regard to their relationships, but as always, if you see something there, let your imagination run with it if you want. I don't deny at all that some scenes in this are kinda... shippy. I was aiming for very close friendship, but you know how it is. I'm not opposed to these two characters being in a relationship, and I don't remember seeing anything stating they'd never consider it... so read it however you want. ;)**

 **One last thing - be aware that the title and some moments in this story are light comedic, but the subject is also fairly dark and traumatic. I prefer an unhealthy mix of both, in life and in fiction. Hopefully you do too.**

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 **CHAPTER 1**

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Holtzmann bounced as she stepped, in a way that almost resembled dancing. Patty had accidentally stayed up late watching her work, and that meant when the younger woman decided she needed more Pringles - right now - Patty had to venture out with her to find some.

"How are you always so damn energetic?" Patty frowned as she struggled to keep up with her friend. Holtzmann was tiny compared to Patty. Her legs were so short... and yet Patty was the one practically jogging here.

"I, uh..." Holtzmann trailed off and shrugged.

"Well, most places aren't gonna be open at four a.m." Patty informed her.

"Um hm... But that places that are..." Holtzmann looked over her shoulder with wide eyes and nodded as though that was supposed to mean something.

Patty frowned, then winced as Holtzmann nearly collided with a lamp post. "Watch where you're going, Holtzy." She advised.

"Will do." Holtzmann put her hand on the lamp post she'd just about walked into and slid around it gracefully, complete with a little twirl before continuing onward. "This is where I usually go for four a.m. Pringles..." She noted, walking up to a news stand run by a guy who looked like he was a heavy drug-user.

Patty swallowed and watched as Holtzmann engaged the guy in conversation like they knew each other. Maybe they did... If the woman came down here for Pringles regularly at four o' clock in the morning, acting how she acted... she'd be hard for this guy to forget.

"Tube o' Pringles, please." Holtzmann requested, giving the man a sort of bow.

"Only got the sour cream ones left today, Sweetheart." The man responded.

Holtzmann's shoulders slumped and her excited expression melted away. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide. She looked positively offended, as though this man had just called her every vulgarity in the book.

"No!" She groaned, stepping closer to the news stand and starting to climb over it.

"Some guy came through an hour ago and bought all of the regular ones I had left." The man explained as Holtzmann hefted herself up onto the flimsy shelves of the news stand.

"You..." Holtzmann shook her head, clearly searching for words she couldn't find. "You lie!"

"Honey, I swear. I don't got 'em." The man frowned, but made no move to prevent her from climbing over his other products.

"Noooo..." Holtzmann sounded like she was going to cry as she stumbled over magazines, knocking some to the ground as she hefted her upper body over the counter and looked behind it.

"Jesus..." Patty muttered to herself, wondering if she should physically pry her friend off of the stand and drag her away. Why wasn't this guy pissed that the woman was making a mess of his business?

"Why would you order so many of these!?" Holtzmann's dramatic voice rang through the street and surrounding alleys. Patty heard the sound of cardboard and chips being rummaged through. "My god! They're _all_ sour cream!"

"Holtzy, baby... We can go someplace else..." Patty stepped forward and reached toward Holtzmann's foot.

Holtzmann sighed and let herself drop behind the counter. Patty winced, but her friend stood up and didn't appear bothered that she'd just fallen head-first over a news stand. She walked back around and started shoving magazines back onto the stand. "Sorry, Ricky..." She mumbled, putting the magazines up all wrong, some backwards, upside-down, or sideways. "Save me one next time..." She requested.

Ricky nodded and made no move to straighten the magazines as Patty smiled politely at him and Holtzmann offered a half-hearted wave.

Patty put her hand on Holtzmann's back as they walked on. The younger woman was no longer bouncy and excited. She seemed defeated. Patty could barely believe something as small as not finding the flavor of chips she wanted at the first place they happened upon was enough to kill her mood so entirely.

"There's lots of places to buy Pringles." Patty spoke, trying to be supportive to her friend's situation, even though it was ridiculous that the woman was this upset over what was basically nothing.

"Not at four a.m. Ricky was my go-to guy..." Holtzmann frowned.

Patty shook her head. "Worse case scenario, we'll have to wait a few hours for other places to open."

Holtzmann groaned dramatically.

"Hey!" A man's voice called out from an alley as they passed.

Holtzmann stopped in her tracks and looked toward the unfamiliar man.

Patty grimaced. She was never going out at four a.m. ever again. There were only weirdos out... But then, the whole reason she came this time was because Holtzmann was determined to get her Pringles. The smaller woman would have gone alone otherwise, and obviously that wasn't a great idea.

"Keep walking." Patty advised in a low voice, putting her hand on Holtzmann's arm and attempting to pull her along.

Holtzmann ignored her hand and took a step toward the alley. "Hey." She said back to the stranger.

The man smiled. Patty could swear it looked almost sinister. "Aren't you ladies those ghost killers?"

"Well... Ya can't kill a ghost... so no..." Holtzmann shook her head and laughed.

"Ghostbusters." Patty corrected.

"Yeah, that's it..." He nodded.

Holtzmann nodded too and stared expectantly with wide eyes and a grin, clearly intrigued by this guy, waiting for him to go on, while Patty really wanted to grab her friend and get away from him. She knew better than to go toward weird guys clearly trying to lure her into a dark alley at four in the morning.

"Well..." Patty finally spoke when it seemed no one else was going to. "It was nice meeting you. We'll see you around." She put her hand on Holtzmann's arm near her elbow and started to pull her back.

"Wait! I've got a job for you guys." The man went on, easily drawing Holtzmann's attention back to him.

"You'll have to make an appointm-" Patty started.

"Yeah?" Holtzmann leaned toward the man with wide eyes as she interrupted Patty. "What is it?"

The man smiled again, stepping toward Holtzmann casually. Patty didn't like how close he was getting. Holtzmann didn't behave like a normal human being and seemed to not expect anyone else to either, so this strange guy stepping so close that the petite woman could probably feel his breath on her hair didn't phase her. But it irked Patty.

"Holtzy, come on." Patty cut in, putting her hand on Holtzmann's arm again. "He's gonna have to call the office in the morning."

"It's morning now." The man looked over Holtzmann and at Patty.

"Let's just see what he wants, Patty." Holtzmann shrugged as she turned away from the man and looked up at her friend. "If it's too big a project, we'll make him an appointment... but he can explain what's-" She was cut off when the man suddenly grabbed her by her arms, pulling her backward against his chest.

Patty felt a growl in her throat as she stepped forward, put halted in her tracks as she saw the man held a small knife in one hand. He had quickly pressed the blade up to Holtzmann's throat as he held onto her with an arm stretched across her chest.

Holtzmann stared back at Patty with wide eyes, but said nothing.

Patty swallowed. Holtzmann looked entirely scared - like actual, legitimate fear. Patty had seen Holtzmann surprised, confused, nervous... but fear like what was in her eyes now was rare. It had even managed to render the ordinarily talkative woman speechless.

"What do you want?" Patty asked, trying to keep her voice from dripping with anger. She was pissed, of course, but being verbally abusive to this guy wasn't going to help. She had to play nice with the man until he no longer had the power to end Holtzmann's life with a single motion.

"I need you to find a specific ghost for me..." The man explained. "He died with information that I need. You've gotta find him and get the information."

"That's not what we do, man... I think what you're looking for is a psychic or something." Patty explained, feeling her own heart rate quicken as she looked from the crazed man's eyes down to Holtzmann's. The smaller woman's eyes were still filled with fear. She seemed to be silently pleading with Patty to fix this, to get her out of this situation unharmed.

"Psychics are bullshit!" The man screamed, shaking his hostage as he spoke.

Holtzmann whimpered and closed her eyes as her captor pressed the blade of the knife uncomfortably close to her skin.

Patty raised her hands in defense. "Listen, man... We don't normally communicate with the dead for information like that... We're more like exterminators... with ghosts instead of bugs... You're asking us to be like... ghost whisperers... But that's not what we do..."

"Well, you better start doing it. If you can't help me, I won't have any regrets here if I slit her little throat." He shook Holtzmann again, squeezing her close against his chest.

Holtzmann opened her eyes and stared up at Patty, who could see her young friend shaking under the strange man's grip. "W-we can give it try. Right, Patty?" She rambled breathlessly.

"Yeah." Patty whispered. "We'll give it a try. Um... If you could just give us the guy's name, where he lived maybe... Someplace we could go look for his spirit... We'll give it a go."

"Good." The man offered a shaky, quick smile. "You can be the one to call your friends and let them know who they're looking for. The guy's name is Leroy Hayes. I got a list of all the places he might be. Hon, reach into my front left pocket on my pants." He whispered into Holtzmann's ear.

Holtzmann grimaced, but did as she was told, reaching a shaking hand toward his thigh behind her and retrieving a folded piece of paper.

"Toss it to your friend." He ordered. Holtzmann did as she was told, throwing the paper a few feet toward Patty, who picked it up and unfolded it. There were about twenty-five locations listed.

Patty swallowed as she looked down at the list. This wasn't going to work. They had never sought out a ghost like this before, never interrogated one... Even if this man's ghost was still around, the chances of him answering questions were slim. What motivation would he have to do so? And again, that was assuming his spirit was even around at all. Not all people who died haunted the world afterward. In fact, most didn't. Otherwise the world would be overrun with ghosts all the time.

"In a couple minutes, I'll let you call your friends. Tell them to go find him and ask him where the money is. He should know what that means. They can tell him your cute friend here's gonna die if he doesn't give you answers. He had a soft spot for pretty girls." The stranger continued. "If I suspect there's police anywhere near me, I'm gonna kill her. So don't fuck with me. Make sure your friends don't either."

Patty's heart sunk. He still wasn't going to let Holtzmann go... She wasn't getting her friend back until/unless Abby and Erin found this ghost and got answers from him... but she didn't think that was even possible.

"Patty..." Holtzmann whimpered as the man began backing down the alley, still holding tightly onto her, still threateningly pressing his knife against her throat.

"Stay calm, Baby..." Patty bit her lower-lip. "We're gonna get you out of this... Please don't hurt her..." She spoke then to the stranger...

"As long as you don't pull any tricks, I won't do anything too mean to little Jillian here." The man smirked. "I'm not kidding though... You fuck with me, if your friends send police, try anything at all... I will kill her... and if I suspect you're fucking with me, and I have time and a chance, I'll even make sure it's slow and painful."

Holtzmann's eyes were wide and her brow furrowed as she swallowed nervously.

"Right this way, girls." The man pulled Holtzmann to the side so that Patty could lead, most certainly so he could keep an eye on her while holding onto the smaller woman.

Patty exhaled and walked down the alley. Hopefully when she called Abby and Erin, they'd be able to either find this ghost, or come up with a plan, because Patty most certainly didn't know what to do.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Hey friends... I'd appreciate some reviews if you have it in you... Going through the trouble to post this here without anyone saying anything back makes me anxious.**

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 **CHAPTER 2**

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Holtzmann pouted as she watched Patty disappear around the corner in front of her. The man still holding tightly onto her arms and leading her down the alley had requested that the older woman walk ahead of them, probably because he knew she wouldn't try anything knowing Holtzmann was in danger behind her.

Part of Holtzmann wanted Patty to run away while she could, to save herself... A stronger, more selfish and scared part of her was grateful that she wasn't left behind in all this, that if this man tried to hurt her, Patty might able to save her from him. Holtz had spent great portions of her life pretty much on her own when she could have really used a friend. The thought of going through something scary and traumatic like this by herself, with no one to support her in any way, was positively terrifying.

"Come along, dear." The man spoke softly as he pulled her down the alley, seemingly unfazed by the fact that she was stiff and practically dragging her feet the whole time.

She frowned as they turned the corner and she came face to face with a second man. The first one shoved her toward him. She stumbled forward and he grabbed onto her with large, rough hands around her upper-arms.

"I thought we were just taking this one." The man grabbing her arms noted, nodding down toward Holtzmann.

"That was the plan." The first man exhaled. "She usually goes out alone... Patricia came with her tonight and I didn't want to wait 'til tomorrow. We've gotta get this done. We'll make it work. It's not a significant change. Might actually work better this way. Give 'em each motivation to cooperate knowing the other'll suffer if they don't."

Holtzmann felt her heart pounding in her chest as she glanced toward Patty, who looked quite worried as she stared back. No one was holding onto the taller woman. They must have trusted they didn't have to. As long as Holtzmann was confined, Patty wasn't going anywhere, and they knew it...

With fear in her heart, Holtzmann breathed in and out shaking breaths. Living humans were sometimes so much scarier than ghosts... At least with ghosts, she had a general idea of what she was dealing with, what they were capable of, and how to get rid of them... She didn't know what to do in this situation.

Without much movement other than her eyes, Holtzmann looked cautiously around, trying to get a good read on her surroundings. The second man held her arms in hard fists, pretty firmly, but with no weapon to convince her to play nice. The first man had put his knife away after passing her off to his friend. No one was too close to Patty. If she was going to attempt escape, now would be the time to do it.

She glanced toward Patty, staring for a long few seconds, silently telling the woman with her eyes that she was about to go for it. She wondered if Patty could read her expression and understand the message she was trying to convey. Either way, she was going to do it... She was going to make her move. There was no other option. She just hoped Patty knew to take the opportunity to run too. If Holtzmann escaped without Patty, that just wasn't going to work. They had to get out of this together.

With an angry, yet sort of shaking growl in her throat, Holtz stomped one foot down on top of the foot of the guy holding onto her arms, then brought her other leg up between his legs, hitting him as hard as she could. She heard him groan as he let go of her arms and she stumbled back slightly.

Before she had a chance to make a run for it, she felt a hard fist slam into her ribs, followed by a second strike against the side of her face. Holtzmann crumpled to the ground with a pained gasp, holding one hand against her cheek where he'd hit her and the other against her ribs. The punch to her side had been pretty hard. Hard enough that she was wincing more than breathing at this point.

She heard Patty screaming something, followed by the first man's angry voice. But she couldn't focus on anything but herself at the moment. Patty should have run...

Holtzmann dragged herself to her feet, tripping to her hands and knees as she struggled to create distance between her and her attackers. She made eye contact with Patty again as she half-crawled, half-stumbled away. The older woman looked terrified, but made no move to intervene. It was then that Holtzmann realized the first man was aiming a gun at Patty. That's why she was so still and silent.

It made Holtzmann freeze too, long enough for the second man to reach her. She felt a hand grab her arm, pull her back, and spin her around to face him, followed by a rather harsh slap across her face.

"Stop!" Patty's urgent voice cried as Holtzmann whimpered and brought her arms up to cover her face. She felt hard hands on her arms, hauling her up off the ground as she thrashed her body in an attempt to escape.

"Get off of me!" Holtzmann screamed, kicking out and twisting her body.

"Let her go!" Patty screamed almost in the same moment.

Holtzmann felt herself fall back against the hard ground as her jerking movements payed off. She shrunk down, trying to scramble away as the man reached toward her with an angry stare. "Get back here you little bitch!" He growled.

"No!" Holtzmann gasped.

The first man sighed as he tucked his gun into his belt and pushed past his buddy. "Lenny, you drive. I'll sit with them in the back." He grabbed at Holtzmann's arms, but she wasn't having it. She didn't care that this one hadn't been violent yet. She wasn't going with him.

"Patty, run!" She screamed. The guy reaching for her now was the one who had been holding the gun on Patty. He was focused on Holtzmann now. They both were. Patty could make a run for it.

"Holtzy, baby... don't fight with him..." Patty urged. "We'll go with you... Just don't hurt her. We won't argue or fight anymore, right?"

Holtzmann frowned, but stopped trying to get away. If Patty wasn't going to run, there was no point in fighting to the point of distracting both men. Her heart wanted Patty to save herself even knowing she'd be left behind, but she understood why the woman chose not to. Holtzmann wouldn't have left Patty behind either. They were in this together. One wasn't escaping unless they both did.

She sure as hell wasn't going to escape both of the men anyway. The second guy, Lenny, was pretty harsh, and very strong. The first guy, whose name she still hadn't caught, had at least two weapons, and rather strong, hard hands. She let him haul her up off the ground by her arms.

"She kicked me!" Lenny reminded his friend. "I should break your fucking arm for that, little girl." He growled, stepping toward Holtzmann, who shrunk down against the other man.

"She's just scared. You won't do it again. Right?" He stared down at Holtzmann.

"Yeah..." She breathed, then frowned. "Wait... I mean, no..."

"No you will? Or no you won't?" Lenny growled, taking another step forward.

"Yes..." Holtzmann swallowed nervously. She'd lost track of the wording surrounding this promise. Obviously she wanted to let him hear what he wanted to hear... but what exactly had he asked? She also wasn't going to just sit back and let the guy beat her up. If she had to defend herself, she would.

Lenny frowned. "You gonna kick me again or not?" He rephrased.

Holtzmann breathed in a calming breath and nodded. "If you attack me again, yes. Probably, I will."

She swallowed and shrunk down further as Lenny scowled, squeezing his hands into fists and looking very much like he wanted to punch her.

"Holtz, come on..." Patty exhaled from several feet away. Obviously Patty wanted her to just make the verbal agreement that she'd play nice, regardless of her actual intentions.

"Then I won't..." Holtzmann pouted. But it was a lie. If this guy attacked her again, she was very much going to kick him.

"How about we all agree to to be a little more calm from here on." The first guy compromised. "You two ladies won't fight with us. We won't hurt you. Win win."

Holtzmann frowned, but nodded. That would have to do for now.

She allowed the un-named man to lead her toward a car. Lenny got into the driver's seat. Patty squeezed into the back, followed by Holtzmann and the guy still grasping her arm in a somewhat painful grip. She figured he held her so tight because he knew she might take any chance given to escape... but it still hurt, and she wasn't too happy about it.

"I need your phones." The man sitting next to Holtz requested. "I want to trust that you girls won't do anything dumb, but Jillian, you've already been fighting us a lot more than is wise. I need both of your phones." He held out his hand.

Patty quickly offered hers up. Holtzmann frowned. She hadn't brought a phone with her. She had two dollars. Nothing else. She went out for chips, not to get kidnapped.

The man stared at her with a raised eyebrow. Holtzmann shrugged. "I don't have it..." She said in a small voice, fearing he might do something mean if he thought she was lying or attempting to be difficult.

He frowned.

Holtzmann swallowed nervously, shrinking down against Patty as the car was put into drive and began moving slowly down the street.

"She doesn't usually have it on her." Patty spoke up in her defense.

"We'll see." The man shook his head and reached out.

Holtzmann yelped and, out of instinct, slapped his hand as he grabbed toward her thigh. She immediately gasped and bit her lip, raising her hands in defense. "I'm sorry..." She breathed, staring wide-eyed back at the guy. Obviously smacking him wasn't the greatest idea, but she hadn't expected him to grab out at her leg like that. She didn't like the idea of him putting his hands on her. "I really don't have it... I promise..." She breathed, shrinking even further against Patty.

"Don't do that again." He growled. "I can't trust you, so I'm gonna have to check myself." He told her, reaching toward her leg again, feeling her overall pockets and then moving his hands up, sort of patting her down as though he was a cop and she was a criminal... except that they were both presently awkwardly squished into the back seat of a car.

Holtzmann held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt his hands move up her sides. She squirmed and stuck her lower-lip out in a pout as his hands pawed around her back and then back down to her legs.

"That's cute, Honey." He smirked as he noticed her pout.

Holtzmann felt her lip tremble as his hands continued to roam, patting her down much more thoroughly than seemed necessary. She was pretty sure he was just trying to make her uncomfortable at this point.

"Alright, Handsy. That's enough." Patty sounded mad. Holtzmann glanced up toward her, seeing that she looked pretty mad too. "She said she didn't have it. You can feel her up all day and you still aren't gonna find it."

He laughed and gave in, letting Holtzmann shrink down against Patty's side as he focused on the older woman's phone.

"You want to call Abby or Erin?" He asked as he scrolled through her contacts. "Or the office?"

Patty shrugged as she put her arm around Holtzmann's back, resting her hand on the smaller woman's arm and pulling her as close as physically possible. It made Holtzmann feel safer, but still not completely out of harm's way.

"Try Abby first, I guess... It's early... She might not answer." Patty frowned.

"Alright." He found her number and hit send, putting the phone on speaker and holding it out in front of him. "Remember not to do anything dumb. You're gonna want to tell her cops and any shit like that's gonna be rewarded with pain for one of the two of you. Maybe both."

Patty nodded. Holtzmann could swear she felt the older woman's heart pounding in her chest... Or maybe that was her own heart.

Holtzmann's breath caught in her throat as she heard Abby's voice answer the phone. "Hello?" She sounded really tired. "Patty, it's four thirty in the morning..."

"Hey, Abby..." Patty started. "Listen, I've got a job for you and Erin, and it's pretty important..."

"It can't wait until morning?" Abby complained.

"No... Not really..." Patty spoke. "I've got a name and a list of places... and you guys need to try to find a specific ghost and get information from him..."

Holtzmann glanced up toward the man next to her as an awkward silence filled the car. Obviously Abby was going to tell this man the same thing Patty had - that finding specific spirits and interrogating them wasn't their forte.

"Abby?" Patty frowned.

"Yeah... I heard you... Just... You know that's not how we usually do these things, right?" Abby sounded like she was frowning too.

"Well, we're gonna do 'em this way this time though." Patty told her. "I'm here with Holtz."

"Hey, Abby." Holtzmann spoke up.

"And two men who say you need to find this guy's ghost and get him to give you the info they want... or else they'll kill us." Patty offered a nervous laugh.

"Seriously?" Abby's voice sounded a bit nervous.

"Yeah, seriously." The man spoke up, seemingly losing patience.

"Who's that?" Abby wondered.

"Um... We don't know his name, actually..." Patty answered.

"I'm the guy that's gonna start breaking fingers if you don't cooperate." He answered, obviously happy to take over Patty's half of the conversation. "You need to find the spirit of a guy named Leroy Hayes. Ask him where the money is. Tell him 'M' sent you if he doesn't get it, but he should get it."

"M?" Abby's voice asked. "The letter 'M?'"

"Yes." M, apparently, growled. "And if I suspect anyone's up to anything or see any trace of the police sniffing around, I'm gonna have to hurt someone, starting with the little one."

Holtzmann gulped and felt Patty's grip around her shoulders tighten. Why did this guy keep threatening her specifically? Of course, she'd rather herself get hurt than one of her friends... but it was still scary to have the man continuously saying he planned on causing her pain.

"No... Don't do that." Abby's voice was increasingly concerned. "We'll find the guy... Don't hurt them. J-just give us time, okay?"

"I'm gonna read off a list of locations where you might find him, so write this down." M continued.

Holtzmann focused on Patty as their captor read off his list of addresses. The older woman seemed to be paying attention to what the man was saying into the phone. Holtz didn't see how it could matter, since they were the ones being held hostage here. What was Patty going to do with that information?

As she stared up at Patty's thoughtful face, Holtzmann realized just how exhausted she felt. She wondered if Patty was tired too. The older woman wasn't used to staying up as late as Holtz. Why had she stayed up so late anyway? Just to keep Holtzmann company?

She felt tears stinging her eyes as she stared silently up at her friend. It was her fault Patty was here right now. These guys were going to just take her. Apparently they had paid attention to her daily habits enough to know she made regular early-morning Pringles runs. They knew she was usually alone at that time. Patty was never supposed to be put in danger here. When Holtzmann said she wanted to go out for Pringles, Patty had suggested she wait. She remembered the older woman commenting about the streets not being safe so late at night. Patty was tired and didn't think they should go... Holtzmann had insisted, and now, she wanted to cry knowing Patty definitely would have avoided this if not for her.

As she stared up at Patty, the older woman must have felt her gaze, because she glanced down and immediately frowned.

"Aw... Baby, don't cry... You're gonna be okay." Patty whispered, hugging her tighter.

Holtzmann closed her eyes and shook her head. She wasn't worried about herself. Well... she _was_... but she was more worried about Patty. If Holtzmann put herself in danger by going out all alone into the New York streets at all hours of the night, that was her own fault... She could live with that... but Patty was careful. Patty was much more smart about things like this. She would have never been in a position where some weird men could kidnap her if not for Holtzmann's stupid Pringles craving.

Patty had even advised that they should keep walking when this guy approached them. It was Holtzmann who had decided to engage. This was double-her fault. Patty was suffering from Holtzmann's reckless decisions.

"Just stay calm." Patty urged in a low voice. "I won't let them hurt you."

Holtzmann frowned and reached up toward her shoulder, grabbing Patty's hand in hers and squeezing lightly. She knew what Patty said was true - that the older woman would do whatever possible to protect her... Holtzmann hoped she could reciprocate the gesture and keep Patty safe too.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys... I know you're reading this and I'd really appreciate some reviews. I can't know what you think if you don't tell me... and it's really discouraging to feel ignored after sharing a creation with a community who are willing to consume it but not give any feedback. Discouraging enough that I might just run away and stop updating it pretty soon. I don't want to be that kind of a dick, but I don't want to feel unappreciated and invisible either. I have two other fanfiction ideas for Ghostbusters - one of them is even already fully written minus proofreading _right now_... I'm not sure I see a point in posting it or any others here at the moment though. I'm not a tyrant about this - I'm not gonna do that thing people do where they hold their stories hostage in exchange for goal-numbers of reviews... I just don't want to only hear crickets either. So if you've been reading, and you like what I've written... please tell me. I'd love to share my passion for this fandom and these characters with people who feel similarly, but I don't know for sure if you're really even there or if some robot is clicking on my new chapters just to trick me. I don't publish new content just for robot consumption. **

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 **CHAPTER 3**

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By the time they had arrived at their destination, the car's radio clock read 5:23am. They were almost an hour away from where they'd started, were seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and Holtzmann was sound asleep lying against Patty's side.

Patty wasn't sure how the younger woman managed to fall asleep while so obviously terrified by the situation, but somehow she had. Probably no thanks to her habit of staying up all night working on whatever she was excited about at the moment. Now that she wasn't engrossed in one of her inventions, there was no reason to push through her exhaustion and stay awake.

"Lenny, go get Patricia settled. I'll bring Jillian in a few minutes." M ordered as his friend put the car into park in front of a large, dark building.

Patty felt her shoulders slump. "Can't she stay with me? We're not gonna try anything..."

M shook his head. "I'll take good care of her." He reached out and put his hands lightly on Holtzmann's arms, pulling her carefully up off of Patty.

Patty frowned as she heard a small, distressed noise come from her friend as Holtz clumsily raised her hands up slightly but remained asleep.

Patty looked to her other side as the car door opened. Lenny stood there, silently ordering her to go with him. She had no choice but to comply, but she wondered if she should wake up Holtz first... She certainly didn't want the younger woman waking up all alone with this guy who kept threatening her, wondering what had happened to Patty. She was bound to wake up whenever he decided to bring her inside anyway... If that happened when Patty was gone already, Holtzmann was going to be terrified.

"Holtzy..." Patty whispered as she put her hand lightly on Holtzmann's arm and rubbed gently up and down. "Baby, I'm gonna see you in a minute..."

Holtz groaned as she blinked her eyes open. It took a mere few moments for her to look around herself and become aware enough to remember the situation. Her eyes widened as she shook her head. "Patty? Wh-" She looked and sounded confused.

"I'm gonna go with him inside." Patty nodded toward Lenny. "He's gonna bring you in right behind me, so I'll see you in a couple minutes, okay?"

"Wait! No! I'm going with you!" She all but shouted as she moved to climb out of the car. M reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

"We'll be seeing her in a minute, Honey." He promised. "You're staying with me until then."

Patty frowned as she stared down into her friend's eyes. Maybe it would have been better not to wake her up. "Holtzy, I'm pretty sure they're just separating us so we don't try to escape. We'll be together again really soon. Right?" She looked past Holtzmann and at the guy holding her back. "You'll bring her in pretty quick, and you won't hurt her...?"

"Of course not. As long as everybody does what they're supposed to, Jillian will join you in a matter of minutes." M assured her. "Just don't argue or fight, and you'll both be fine."

"See?" Patty forced a smile. She didn't trust these men at all... but she did know being difficult wasn't going to do either her or Holtzmann any favors.

Holtzmann pouted, but didn't say anything more. She seemed to understand the same thing Patty did - that fighting back wasn't going to work... That the fastest way for she and Patty to end up close to each other again was to follow the plan set up by their captors.

It broke Patty's heart to have to walk away, but she figured it was the only way this would go smoothly. Being demanding would only end up getting one or both of them hurt. So she exhaled and followed Lenny away from the car, resisting the urge to look back.

She followed the man into what appeared to be an old, unused warehouse. She frowned as she noticed a single chair with a coil of rope and some hand cuffs on it. These men had planned to only take Holtzmann. This was where they had planned to keep her.

Patty's heart ached thinking about what their original plan had been. Holtzmann was so obviously scared of these men, which was entirely reasonable. Patty was too... But at least they were together, for the most part.

Thinking of what could have been made Patty want to vomit. If these men's plan had gone down as they wanted, Holtzmann would be by herself, outnumbered and outmatched, with no one at all to plead her case or make any attempt to defend her. She wondered if they were holding anything back since Patty was here. It was Patty who had asked M to stop groping Holtz back in the car, and he'd listened. What would have happened if Patty hadn't been there to make the comment that she did?

Patty felt a small shiver run through her. Would M have taken that further if Holtz was the only one with him in the back of the car? When the man had patted the smaller woman down so thoroughly, was he trying to be funny? Was he teasing her? Or was he really interested in Holtzmann in that way? She was in the car with him right now... With no one there to keep the guy in check. Patty felt nauseated as she thought about this.

"You know, she won't go anywhere as long as I'm the one tied up." Patty told Lenny, hoping to spare Holtzman a bit of pain and fear. Of course, if this worked, the second Patty and Holtz were left alone, Patty was going to advise the smaller woman to run like hell out of here. Both men seemed to be picking on the petite blonde more than her taller companion, probably because she was more vulnerable, and threatening her was both easy and effective. Obviously, in their line of work, bumps and bruises were a regular occurrence... but everyone always seemed more affected when it was Holtz who got injured. She just brought out a protective side in people.

"You'll both be tied up, Patricia." Lenny told her, dragging a second chair away from the wall and placing it several yards away from the first. "Sit."

Patty closed her eyes for a moment and exhaled. She silently obeyed, knowing Holtz was still out in the car with the other man. Patty had to cooperate, at least until she knew Holtz was okay. If they hurt the smaller woman because Patty was difficult, she'd never forgive herself.

So she held still as Lenny tied her ankles to the legs of the chair, wrapped rope around her chest and bound her hands behind her.

Patty looked up and held her breath as she noticed M leading Holtzmann into the large room. The younger woman appeared stiff and nervous as she let the man drag her toward the other chair.

"Wait..." She spoke in a low voice that almost trembled. She shook her head and grabbed at M's arms, choosing to cling to him rather than sit down willingly. "I don't like being tied up..." She breathed.

"Really?" M laughed sarcastically.

"Yeah, really..." Holtz answered, seemingly entirely missing M's sarcastic tone. "I'll just stand... or lie down on the floor or something..."

"You sweet, naive, weird little lunatic..." M looked at her with what could almost be described as affection. It made Patty's skin crawl.

Holtzmann laughed nervously, glancing toward Patty with furrowed brows.

"Sit down." M ordered, nudging Holtzmann toward the other chair.

"Hmm mm." Holtz shook her head no.

M exhaled tiredly. "Lenny, hold her down."

Holtzmann's mouth dropped open as she took a step back from the other man, shaking her head slightly as she stared at Lenny with wide eyes.

Patty glanced toward Lenny, who smiled sinisterly and cracked his knuckles as he moved to make his way over toward Holtzmann.

"No... no... I'll sit down..." She gave in.

"Good girl." M forced a smile, but still looked annoyed.

Holtz sat down in the chair and raised her eyes up to meet Patty's.

"It's okay." Patty tried to offer a smile and nodded in a way she hoped was reassuring. Holtzmann's expression indicated that she most certainly did not agree with that sentiment.

It clearly took everything in her for Holtzmann to refrain from shoving M away and bolting as he slid her over-sized boots off of her feet and wrapped ropes around her ankles, fastening them securely around the chair legs. Patty saw in her body language, in the fact that she was shrinking down and breathing hard, in the fact that she looked like she wanted to throw up, that the thought of being tied to a chair was terrifying to her. And of course it was. She would be at the mercy of these men, who had each already proven they were willing to be less than kind and gentle.

Patty grimaced as she heard Holtzmann's shaking voice. "No!" The woman screamed. It took Patty a moment to understand what was going on. M was trying to wrestle her jacket off of her.

"It's too bulky, Hon. I gotta know you're tied down good." M explained. "Same reason I took off the boots."

"No!" Holtz screamed again, holding onto the jacket as he yanked it off of her arms. "Give it back!"

"Stop fighting me!" M growled, slapping Holtzmann across her face.

Holtz whimpered and brought her hands up to her face for just a moment before M had grabbed her arms and forced them behind her, snapping handcuffs around her wrists and tightening them in a way that must have been painful judging by Holtzmann's uncomfortable groan and grimace. He then wrapped a coil of rope rather violently around Holtzmann's chest, further securing her to the chair.

Patty held her breath as she watched M leaned down close to Holtzmann. He put his hand on her neck and whispered something as the young woman closed her eyes and turned her head away. M stood up straight, ran his hand down to Holtzmann's collar and rubbed her shoulder for a moment before walking away with Lenny in tow.

Patty waited until she was confident they couldn't hear her before speaking up. "You okay, Baby?" She frowned.

Holtzmann looked down and pouted, but nodded. She was shivering, as under her overalls, she wore a rather thin tank top. That's why she'd originally worn the jacket. "I'm cold..." Holtz noted.

"I know..." Patty frowned.

"Are you okay, Patty? Did he hurt you?" Holtzmann looked up with a frown.

"Baby, I'm fine." Patty promised. She sort of wanted to remind Holtzmann to cooperate a bit more, but also recognized that these guys were picking on her more than they were with Patty. It felt almost cruel to ask her to be more obedient as she was abused.

Holtzmann also had very particular quirks that made cooperating in situations like this all the more difficult for her. She couldn't see that it was worth it to let them tie her up to avoid being hurt. She wasn't thinking through the whole situation - just that moment. In that moment, the thought of being tied down was the worst thing she could imagine. Allowing it just didn't make sense.

"Did he do anything out in the car?" Patty frowned.

Holtz shrugged. "Not really..."

Patty felt her heart sink. What the hell did that mean? "Not really?" She repeated.

"Well, he threatened my life, as you know he has a tendency to do..." Holtzmann forced a breathless laugh. "Said if I didn't cooperate, they'd kill you." Her voice immediately shook and tears sprung to her eyes as she choked out a shaking sob and looked down.

"They ain't gonna kill me, Baby." Patty assured her. She was fairly sure she believed herself too. If these men were paying attention, they knew the fact that Patty was in danger was a large motivation for Holtz to listen to them. Sure, the smaller woman would be more vulnerable if she were here alone, but she'd also have very little reason to not fight them through her captivity. The Ghostbusters were also moderately famous. Anyone who killed any of them would have a hard time getting away with it. These guys had to realize that.

"I'm sorry, Patty..." Holtzmann spoke, her voice small as she averted her eyes.

Patty frowned. "Don't be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong. It's not your fault these creeps decided to kidnap us."

"It kind of is... It's my fault you're here at least." Holtzmann disagreed. "You said back at the office that going out for Pringles at 4am instead of waiting 'til the next day didn't make sense... When that guy started talking to us in the alley, you should we should just keep going. I screwed up..."

With an exhale, Patty stared across the room at her friend, who looked quite small and defenseless tied up to the chair without her shoes or jacket on. "Walking around the city at 4am isn't always safe. Talking to random guys in an alley isn't always safe... But that's not your fault. The city is yours too, Holtzy, and if you want to go out at 4am, you should be able to. I blame these creeps for making the street unsafe, not you for wanting to exist in the same world as them."

Holtzmann was still looking down at her lap, but Patty could see that she was smiling slightly. "I guess you could be right..."

" _Could_ be? No. I'm right." Patty persisted. "Don't blame yourself for any of this."

Holtzmann nodded slightly, but continued looking down."I guess I see what you're saying." She started. "There are things that are potentially dangerous, precautions that could be taken... but shouldn't have to be. In hindsight, we should have kept walking... But at the time..." She shrugged.

Patty nodded. "Exactly. Obviously, looking back, the guy was suspicious... But it's New York. Everybody's weird here. If everybody avoided every weirdo as a precaution, no one could communicate with each other at all."

"Yeah." Holtzmann breathed. "I mean, we wouldn't be friends if no one ever talked to weirdos."

Patty raised her eyebrows and stared at Holtzman. That was true... Holtzmann was one of the weirdest people she'd ever met, but she was harmless, and sweet, intelligent, funny... Avoiding weird people wasn't always necessary.

"I mean... When I met you last year..." Holtzmann laughed, shaking her head. "You were all worked up, acting like a madwoman."

Patty opened her mouth to contradict that statement, but then closed it again. Maybe that wasn't necessary... Obviously Holtzmann was bizarre, but it wasn't a bad thing.

"Patty..." Holtz whispered in a more serious tone as she looked up at the woman with wide eyes. "I've got a plan for us to get out of here."

"Yeah?" Patty whispered back with raised eyebrows. They were both rather securely tied down to chairs... What plan could she have possibly come up with?

Holtzmann nodded. "We've got to get ourselves untied."

Patty fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"But discreetly... They can't know... As long as they aren't watching, we can work on loosening the ropes... My hands are cuffed, so that'll be harder... But maybe I can break my thumb-"

"No... Don't do that." Patty frowned.

Holtzmann shrugged. "We'll see..."

"No. They didn't use cuffs on my hands, so I can get free and then help you. We'll get everything else untied and then you'll just stand up, or I'll pick you up... Your hands can stay cuffed until we get out of here." Patty told her.

Holtzmann shrugged again and exhaled. She shifted her ankles what tiny amount she could and groaned. "He tied me down real good, Patty..." She noted, pulling at her legs and arms in a way that seemed to be becoming more frantic.

"I know..." Patty frowned. "Me too... But we'll get 'em loose. Just stay calm. All we got to do is get out of here... and they're not watching us, so it shouldn't be too hard."

Holtz shook her head and whimpered as she tugged uselessly at her ankles. "I told him I don't like being tied down... I told him..." Her breaths were becoming more frantic. She leaned her head back and exhaled a shaking breath. "Oh my god... I'm gonna freak out, Patty..."

Patty stared across the space at her friend. Obviously no one wanted to be tied down to a chair... But Holtzmann was clearly zeroing in on it to the point of panic. Patty needed to get her mind off of it.

"Holtzy... How long have you known that guy Ricky?" Patty asked her the first topic of conversation she could think of.

Holtzmann stopped struggling with the ropes and looked over at her. "Like six... se- uh... seven weeks." She answered. "Why?" Her eyes looked a little crazed, like she expected Patty to reveal some damning piece of information against the guy.

Patty shook her head. "Just wondering. You two seemed to be pretty familiar with each other." Patty shifted her wrists behind her as she talked, trying to loosen the ropes. It was clearly going to take a while. The bounds were tight.

"He always has Pringles..." Holtzmann spoke with a far away look in her eyes. "Do you think these jerks bought out the Pringles?" She gasped.

Patty laughed, but that theory was possible. One of the men had mentioned knowing that Holtzmann walked outside alone early in the morning. Maybe he had watched her to go that same stand over and over, bought out the item he knew she was after to ensure that she'd venture further down the street into a more secluded area.

"Holy conspiracy, Batman!" Holtz stared at Patty. "These bastards bought all my Pringles on purpose!" She looked around herself wildly, as though answers to this theory may be hanging in the air.

Patty frowned. Holtzmann seemed to be shaking slightly. "Holtz, do you ever sleep, like on a normal day? You're up until four, barely seem tired... but then you're still at the office, wide awake at eight or nine."

Holtzmann shrugged and shook her head. "I dunno."

"You don't know if you sleep?" Patty raised an eyebrow.

"Wasn't I sleeping a minute ago? You woke me up and said you were leaving me with that creepy guy?" Holtzmann wondered. She didn't sound like she was trying to make Patty feel guilty, but she'd succeeded in doing just that.

"I'm sorry, Baby... I didn't want to leave you there with him..." Patty frowned. "The last thing I wanted was to leave you alone with one of them... but I thought they'd hurt you if I argued."

"Well, you're probably right." Holtzmann agreed, shaking that bit of conversation out of her head. "Anyway, I sleep when I sleep. Sometimes on purpose..."

Patty stared at her. She somehow doubted the woman slept on purpose very often. It had happened on more than one occasion that the group would be in the office talking, with Holtzmann working on something or another, either half-engaged in the conversation, or fully absorbed in her own mind... When someone would notice that the blonde had dozed off. She seemed reluctant to ever stop whatever she was immersed in. She kept going until her body demanded otherwise.

"I think I remember sleeping a couple days ago." Holtzmann went on. "I vividly remember having a dream..." She paused, staring past Patty's shoulder with narrowed eyes. "About... caramel."

Patty frowned. "Do you take drugs at all, Holtzy?"

Holtzmann laughed and shrugged. "What about you? You haven't slept either... and you love sleeping. I seem to remember you regularly do it every night."

"Yeah. I normally do." Patty laughed, shifting her wrists more behind her as she stared across the room at Holtzmann. She was glad the younger woman wasn't preoccupied by the ropes around her anymore. Her panic probably wasn't worth it since her wrists were firmly handcuffed... And Patty certainly didn't want Holtz to resort to breaking her thumb in order to free herself.

"Well, aren't you tired then? I think I am." Holtzmann noted.

"Maybe you should close your eyes for a minute." Patty suggested.

Holtzmann sighed. "I don't know... It's a lot easier to sleep when I'm not tied to a chair... But I think I might have pulled it off one other time."

Patty stared back, waiting for elaboration on that alarming bit of information. When she noticed Holtzmann's stare become sort of unfocused and glassy as though the younger woman was content to zone out without explanation, Patty exhaled. "When was that?" She finally asked.

"When was what?" Holtzmann blinked as though completely lost.

"When was it that you managed to sleep while tied to a chair?" Patty frowned.

"Oh." Holtz laughed. "Just..." She shook her head and looked down as a loose curl of her hair fell over her eyes.

"Just what?" Patty asked, staring at her friend.

"Some kids in middle school... They were just kids." She forced a smile, but her eyes looked a little wet. "We were all just kids... Kids can be mean."

"I doubt _you_ were." Patty noted, thinking about what pre-teen Holtzmann was probably like. She didn't doubt that the strange girl would have probably been a magnet to bullies.

"I guess I was pretty nice." Holtzmann agreed with a sort of shrug. "I kept to myself... More interested in the actual school than the other humans in it. I mean, I could have used a friend." She laughed nervously. "But that's easier said than done."

"Yeah. It is..." Patty agreed, feeling sad for the other woman. All humans seemed to have that same need - to be accepted and loved... People like Holtzmann, though entirely lovable, often had trouble connecting. Other kids probably thought she wanted nothing to do with them because she appeared so aloof, but of course little Holtzmann had wanted friends.

"Anyway, these older kids - well, I mean _everyone_ was older. I skipped a couple grades... As if I wasn't having enough trouble fitting in..." She laughed again. "They didn't like me... I didn't like them either though, so maybe it's fair."

"I doubt it." Patty frowned. "They tied you to a chair?"

"Duct tape." Holtzmann corrected. "After school. I hid in the science lab so I could stay late and do some experiments. I guess they found out and they stayed late too. They taped me to a chair and left me there all night. I guess I fell asleep, because I didn't remember the whole night. Unless it was from a couple bottles of chemicals I had opened. I was gonna mix 'em and see if they would combust." Holtzmann smiled and nodded. "But I didn't get a chance... And they didn't close 'em before leaving me there... I bet they would have combusted. Whatever they were..." Holtzmann looked off toward the wall. "Can't remember what chemicals they were... I bet they would have combusted."

"How'd you get away?" Patty frowned.

"Oh..." Holtzmann shook her head. "No... I didn't. I stayed there all night." She nodded and laughed nervously. "Got in trouble too. The science teacher said I could have burnt the school down and blah blah blah..." She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I was there until the next day. Science teacher found me, was less than forgiving. The whole thing sucked."

"You were there all night? And you parents didn't wonder where you were?" Patty stared back at her. "Weren't they looking for you?"

Holtzmann shook her head and shrugged again.

Patty nodded. She supposed there was a reason Holtz had made that little speech before, about being so grateful to have them as her friends, as her family. She hadn't often had anyone looking after her. Not even as a child.

"Baby, I'm sorry that happened. That's more mean than normal kids ever should be. You know that, right?" Patty asked.

"Yeah." Holtzmann yawned and laid her head back against the back of the chair. "I guess that's probably why I panicked when I realized he was going to tie me to this chair though... Yeah... That's probably it."

Patty nodded. "Yeah." She agreed. Of course that was why. That mixed with the fact that any normal human being wouldn't like the idea of being forcefully tied up.

"Well... anyway, hopefully this one won't last as long." Holtz laughed. "And there's no toxic chemicals wafting through the air, so that's an improvement."

"Did the older kids get in trouble at least?" Patty wondered.

Holtzmann shook her head and offered a rather forced, tight smile.

"Why not?" Patty frowned, shifting her wrists further behind her. She could almost swear the ropes were getting more loose, but she wasn't sure.

"I didn't tell anyone who did it. I said I didn't remember, and the teachers believed me... You might not believe this, but people seem to think I'm a little nuts. It was always very easy for me to tell teachers I just forgot who pushed me down the stairs or who locked me in my locker. They seemed to legitimately think I was unaware of the world enough to not know who did it."

"Baby, that's bullshit. I wish you would'a told them the truth." Patty couldn't help but to continue frowning. Thinking about little Holtzmann being bullied and keeping secrets to protect her abusers made Patty's heart hurt.

"It would have just made things worse if I told on them." Holtzmann shrugged. She sounded so tired.

"Well, you don't got to ever keep secrets like that again, okay?" Patty told her. "Anyone ever bothers you, you let me know. I'll kick their asses."

Holtzmann let out a small laugh. "Thanks, Patty."

"No problem, Holtzy." Patty noted as she continued her efforts to loosen her bonds.

She kept twising her wrists behind her as she watched her friend lying rather limply against the chair she was tethered to several yards away. She wondered if Holtzmann had fallen asleep. The tiny blonde's breaths were slow. Patty could see her chest rising and falling calmly under the ropes wrapped securely around her body.

If Holtz had fallen asleep, Patty figured it was probably for the best. She wasn't going to free herself from the cuffs any time soon and being awake would only cause useless stress and panic.

 **xxxxxx**

 **Remember to review, and I'll remember to update. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**One review is better than no reviews. I know at least one living human being with the capability to type is reading this, so that's good. I'm not just posting this to ghosts and robots. I guess I'll post the next chapter for that one person. Here you go, new best friend:**

 **xxxxxx**

 **CHAPTER 4**

 **xxxxxx**

"Shhh." Holtzmann heard a male voice whisper into her ear and felt a hand clamp down over her mouth as she woke up.

Her instinct was to panic and try to scream, but she held back, choosing to judge the situation first. She breathed in and out sharp, quick breaths as she looked first to the man covering her mouth, and then past his body and toward Patty, who remained perfectly still, slumped slightly forward with her eyes closed. She must have fallen asleep too. She wondered what time it was... How long had she slept?

Holtz looked back up into the eyes of the man pressing his hand over her mouth. He was being a little needlessly rough considering Holtzmann wasn't even fighting back at the moment.

"Don't make a sound..." The man instructed in a low voice as he moved his hand slowly off of her face. This was the guy who had told Abby on the phone that his name was simply 'M.' The same one who told Abby that if she tried anything, Holtzmann would be the first to suffer for it. The guy who had made her sit with him in the car while he threatened to hurt Patty if she didn't play nice. The man who had tied her down to this chair. She wondered what his real name was. Had to start with an 'm.' Maybe Mike, Matt... Marvin...

"Is-" Holtz was immediately interrupted when his hand clamped right back down.

"Did I _not_ just tell you to keep your mouth shut?" He growled.

Holtzmann frowned as she felt her breaths become more panicked. She hadn't screamed or anything. She just wanted to ask him what his real name was. She knew the other guy's name. Both of the men knew her and Patty's names.

"You say a single word, and I'm gonna have to do something neither of us wants me to do." He threatened in a low whisper.

She breathed as well as she could with his hand covering her mouth and a bit further up toward her nose. As she looked him up and down, she noticed he had at some point pulled a chair up and was sitting right in front of her. She could hardly believe he managed to place the chair practically touching her legs, sit on it, and reach up to her face before she ever woke up. Patty must have been right... She was exhausted.

"I don't dislike you, Jillian. And Patty's been very cooperative. I don't want either one of you to get hurt, but I'm gonna do what I have to... and if you make a scene, so will I." He threatened.

Holtzmann stared back at him, unable to and afraid to do anything else. His wording wasn't entirely clear, but if she had to guess, what he was saying was if she made a noise, either Patty or Holtzmann was going to get hurt... Maybe both of them. She certainly didn't want that.

"So you promise to stay quiet?" M asked.

Holtz swallowed and nodded what little she could.

"Good." He smiled and slowly moved his hand off of her face and down toward her thigh, gripping her leg above her knee. "I just want to talk to you." He noted with a soft smile as he stared intently into her eyes. "So there's no need to be scared."

Holtzmann stared down at his hand on her leg as she breathed in slow, shaking breaths. If she weren't worried for Patty's sake, there would have been no way she wouldn't be squirming under the ropes and screaming at this guy to keep his hands to himself. She swallowed as she felt herself shaking slightly. She pulled her hands into fists behind her while she watched M's thumb move slowly back and forth over her leg.

Logic reminded her it was only her leg. His thumb was touching her leg, over her clothing... That wasn't too much to worry about. It wasn't rough... It was on top of the rather thick material of her overalls... It was just her leg. She didn't need to freak out... But then, the fact that a man she didn't even know, who had already threatened both her and one of her best friends thought he had the right to touch her at all was alarming. If he felt entitled to this, how much further would he be willing to take things?

"I'm trying to talk to you, Jillian." She felt two fingers on her chin as he forced her to look up at him. Apparently, he had been talking this whole time, while she had zeroed in on his hand. "Are you always this fucking spaced out? How do you get anything done?"

Holtzmann assumed that was a rhetorical question, since the last time she made an effort to quietly ask a simple question, he had slammed his hand over her mouth and basically told her to shut up.

With his hand still on her leg, he leaned forward slightly, narrowing his eyes as he stared into hers, almost as though trying to read her thoughts just by staring hard enough.

She stared back, flinching away as he reached his hand toward her face again. Her breath caught in her throat. She wanted to demand that he back off. She wanted to yell for Patty, even though she knew the other woman was just as trapped as she was. She stayed quiet though, through her fear... because while a strange, violent man touching her face was scary, the thought of him hurting Patty because of her was even scarier.

"You're kind of cute." He noted, brushing a wild curl away from her eyes and back behind her ear. "I'm not sure if you're aware of that... but you are. It was my original plan to just have you here... I needed to take one of you, as motivation for the others. I chose you for a lot of reasons. I knew you'd physically be the easiest to take... I figured I could likely convince you to get in the car on your own - and I still think I could have if not for your buddy... You're weird as fuck, and I could see you really did want to help me... I bet you'd have gotten in the car and everything... You don't seem to have self-preservation skills... Or at least you let curiosity beat out paying attention to your surroundings. That's why I chose you. And since I knew I'd be spending time alone with whomever I took, I _had_ to choose the cute one."

Holtz felt her chest tightening. She didn't like where this conversation sounded like it could be going.

She remained frozen, entirely silent as he continued messing with her hair, pulling pins out and running his fingers through the chaotic, twisted strands.

"Jesus Christ, Jillian." He laughed softly. "Your hair's a fucking mess..."

Holtzmann swallowed nervously, shrinking slightly down and pulling against the metal cuffs behind her. Maybe snapping her thumb back to get the things off her wouldn't be such a bad idea. A broken thumb would hurt... but pain might be a fair trade off if she could shove this gross bastard off of her.

"I mean, you really are gorgeous, Hon." M went on, letting his eyes roam over her body. "It almost seems like you're trying to hide it. You've got a nice body, pretty eyes... Your hair might look nice if you'd brush it." He laughed, running his fingers through her hair again. "You actually are pretty hot, Jillian... But you don't seem to want anyone to know it... Your hair's a disaster... Seems like you wake up in a ditch somewhere stick pins in your hair wherever you get get 'em to stick, and throw on dirty overalls that don't fit. Don't get me wrong. You're still cute..."

Holtzmann felt her lip trembling as she swallowed back tears. He was really scaring her... The last thing she wanted to hear was that this weird creep thought she was cute. She didn't dress or style her hair for him, or anyone like him.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she felt his hand on her waist, sliding under her overalls, but still over of the material of her tank top. She squirmed under his touch as she felt her voice rising in her throat. She wasn't going to be able to keep quiet and allow this...

She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt his fingers moving lower, trying to push up under her shirt.

"Don't!" She hissed in a low whisper as she tried to shrink away from his touch. She couldn't just sit quietly and allow him to do this. "Stop..." She breathed a shaking breath, wanting to obey his order not to make noise, but unable to bring herself to silently suffer through his unwanted touch.

She saw a scowl in his eyes as his hand pawed at her even more roughly. He brought his other hand up to her neck, wrapping his fingers around her throat. "I told you not to make a sound, girl." He growled.

Holtzmann bit back a sob as she felt his hand move up from fumbling with the hem of her shirt and toward her breast, groping and squeezing over her shirt. He was clearly being more rough on purpose now - angry that she hadn't kept quiet like he asked. But how could she keep quiet during this? She wanted to scream... She was already holding back a lot more than she wanted to.

He was so close to her now, leaning in and whispering softly. "You're just gonna make me mad, Sweetheart... and if I have to listen to Patty screaming and begging me not to hurt you, it's gonna make me more mad. When I'm mad, I get violent... and when I get violent, sometimes it gets me excited." He smirked down at her, squeezing his hands on her breast and at her throat, almost restricting her breathing. "Do you get that?"

"Please stop..." She whispered even lower, both to try to follow his orders to be quiet, and because he was squeezing her throat a little too hard. She probably couldn't have spoken loudly even if she wanted to.

Her attacker shook his head and exhaled as though annoyed with her. "No more warnings. One more word, and I'm gonna hurt your friend. Then you. What I'm doing is harmless... but it doesn't have to be. I can do much worse than this."

Holtzmann stared up at him with wide eyes, which she could feel were filling with tears. She felt her lip trembling, her body shivering thanks to chill and fear, and her heart pounding frantically in her chest.

"You've got beautiful eyes, Sweetheart." He smiled at her.

She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling tears clinging to her eyelashes.

"So do you understand, Doll? You gonna stay quiet now? You get it that I'm gonna hurt both you and your friend if you don't, right?" M asked.

Holtzmann felt her throat tighten, not because his hand was still lightly squeezing, but because her oncoming tears were literally about to choke her. She forced herself to nod. What choice did she have?

"Open your eyes." He demanded in a low whisper. "Look at me, Jillian."

She did as ordered, looking at him through a haze of unshed tears as he put his hand against her cheek, brushing a tear that had managed to fall away with his thumb.

Holtz whimpered as she tried to see around M's shoulder. She wanted to see Patty, to remind herself how important it was to keep her mouth shut, to assure her that letting him hurt and humiliate her without protest would be worth something. Just seeing that Patty was still okay would make it easier to keep her mouth shut.

She couldn't see around her attacker though though. He was too close, and was leaning in closer, bringing his face close to hers. She shrunk back as much as she could, still trying to see around his shoulder as her breaths quickened.

It wasn't like anything could stop what was happening anyway. Patty couldn't save her. She was still tied up. They were in an old warehouse outside of town. No one would hear her if she screamed. The only thing that would accomplish would be that Patty would wake up. It would just make the older woman upset... and then M would do something awful to both of them. Keeping quiet was her only option if she didn't want a horrible situation to get a whole lot worse.

M leaned in even closer, staring at her with a look that seemed like a terrifying mix of love, lust, and anger. She couldn't help but to let out a choked sob and a muffled whimper as he pressed his lips against hers, kissing forcefully as his one hand moved from her throat to her hair and the other continued groping at her chest.

When he pulled back, Holtzmann couldn't help but to choke out a shaking sob. She tried to be quiet - she really did... but this was just too terrifying, and such a horrible invasion of her personal space.

"Don't cry, Hon. I'm not hurting you." M insisted. "Shhhh..." He added, putting his hand over her mouth again, seemingly understanding that her sobs were out of her control, that she was still trying to listen to his demands that she keep quiet.

Holtzmann shook her head and whimpered as he ran his other hand from her hair, down over her throat, and over her chest. She felt him struggling to unhook her overalls with one hand as he kept the other firmly over her mouth. She tried to shrink down as she utterly failed to keep her tears from streaming down her cheeks.

 **xxxxxx**


	5. Chapter 5

****NOTE: I'm publishing the last three chapters of this here today. Chapter 4 was the last one you read if you've only been following this story here. I published the whole thing on archive of our own actual months ago because the people over there were more welcoming and responsive. I'm only publishing the rest of it so the story isn't incomplete. Unfortunately, the lack of reviews on this one when I could tell people were reading and favoriting and following and when I got gobs of responses elsewhere broke my delicate little writer-heart, so my other Ghostbusters stories are only on archive of our own and not here.**

 **xxxxxx**

 **CHAPTER 5**

 **xxxxxx**

Patty frantically but quietly pulled at her wrists as she felt the binding around them loosening just in time. She'd been working on getting the ropes loose for what seemed like hours when she must have dozed off. She was awoken by the sound of Holtzmann's frightened voice and soft, muffled whimpers.

She heard the man only known as 'M' threatening Holtzmann as he leaned in close to her. As much as Patty wanted to yell out, she knew doing so while still tied down wouldn't help. She was almost free. If she could remain inconspicuous until the time was right, she could take the guy down, untie Holtzmann, and get them both out of here. But she had to hurry, because whatever M was saying or doing over there was not anything pleasant, not if Holtzmann's shaking whimpers were any indication.

Patty tried to keep her breaths quiet and calm as she squeezed one hand out of the ropes behind her. The rest of the ropes hung from her other wrist. She ignored it and moved on to the ones around her chest, and then to the ones attaching her ankles to the chair legs.

Shrugging out of the ropes, she quickly jumped to her feet, grabbing the rope still attached around her wrist in both hands and quickly making her way over to her friend, who was softly crying under a large hand pressed down over half of her face while her attacker spoke what he either meant to be comforting or mocking words.

"Don't cry, Angel. I won't get much further than this. Not with you tied up." He whispered with a sort of chuckle in his voice.

With a growl in her throat, Patty slipped the rope down in front of man's neck, pulling roughly back. She heard him make a strangled, gasping noise as he threw his elbow back, hitting Patty rather hard in the ribs.

She grimaced and pulled the rope tighter. She wasn't giving in this time. He had no leverage. She was gonna keep going until he was passed out on the floor. He let out a choked noise, clearly trying to talk as he swung his arms back, trying to hit Patty. He mostly failed, and she ignored the ones that landed, caring much more about subduing the man than about any small amount of pain he might cause her.

He was clearly trying to talk still as she pulled the rope back harder and harder. "Shut up." She growled, feeling the rope cutting into her own wrist and hand as she pulled it as tight as possible. She wasn't sure she'd ever hated another human being this much in her entire life.

She held the rope tight as his struggles became more manageable, as he grew desperate and focused his clawing hands at his throat. Finally, he went limp and she let him drop to the ground. As she stared down at him, she breathed out shaking, exhausted breaths and finally let her arms relax. They were actually shaking from the effort she'd had to put into that. It seemed it took longer to choke someone into unconsciousness than Patty would have guessed. She'd never had to do it before.

"Patty?" Holtzmann whimpered in an out of breath voice.

Patty exhaled as she focused her attention on Holtz. The younger woman stared back, with tears in her wide eyes and tear streaks down her cheeks. She was visibly shaking, her overalls were undone, and her hair had fallen down significantly from its ordinary style.

"It's okay." Patty spoke, not sure what to say beyond the regular reassuring words and phrases. "You're alright now." She assured her friend as she put her hand lightly on Holtzmann's jaw in a way she hoped was comforting. She could both see and feel the smaller woman's lower lip trembling. It broke Patty's heart how young Holtzmann looked in that moment. With her hair hanging down loose, although still quite unkempt, her impossibly huge doe eyes brimming with tears, and her lips in a shaking pout, she looked so much like a frightened little girl.

"Did he hurt you, Baby?" Patty breathed as she reached for the ropes wound around Holzmann's ribs. While she was there, she re-clasped the smaller woman's overalls and then moved down to her ankles to untie the additional ropes there.

Holtzmann stared down at her, not answering, but looking a little unfocused as though she wasn't even comprehending what she was staring at. Perhaps she was in shock.

"Holtzy..." Patty spoke again, putting her hand back against her friend's face and looking into her eyes. "You hear me?"

Holtzmann blinked a few times and inhaled a trembling breath."Yeah..." She whispered, looking and sounding a bit uncertain.

"Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?" Patty asked again.

Holtzmann hesitated for a moment before blinking and shaking her head. "No." She breathed. "He didn't... I'm not hurt." Her voice was shaking.

"You sure?" Patty frowned. The younger woman seemed so confused.

"Yeah..." Holtzmann nodded. "He didn't hurt me."

"Good..." Patty exhaled, kneeling down again and untying Holtzmann's ankles. "Let's get out of here." She suggested as she finished freeing her friend's ankles and then stood up, putting her hands under her friend's armpits and lifting her up off the chair with her cuffed hands still behind her. She kept her hands on Holtzmann's sides until she was sure the smaller woman was paying enough attention to herself to keep standing on her own two feet. "You okay then?" Patty asked.

Holtzmann swallowed nervously. She looked unsure. She blinked a few times and then maneuvered her arms around behind her, stepping over her hands rather effortlessly so that they were in front of her.

"Baby... You okay?" Patty asked again, putting her fingers on Holtzmann's chin and leaning down a bit to see her better. "He didn't hurt you... but he clearly at the very least scared you... Are you alright?"

The younger woman looked back up at Patty with tears still in her eyes. Her lips were still in a pout and she was most certainly shivering. Finally, Holtzmann sniffed back tears, blinking a few times, exhaling and shaking her head. She opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again. She seemed at a loss for words.

"That's alright, Holtzy... You don't gotta answer right now." Patty forced a smile, trying to appear calm for her friend's sake. The last thing Holtzmann needed was for Patty to freak out and demand that they discuss every detail of what had just happened. Her smile was short-lived, however. It took a mere few seconds before Holtzmann's eyes shone with tears again and her lower lip began to tremble. Patty could tell she was seconds from breaking. "Come here." Patty held her arms out and let the younger woman lean into her. She squeezed Holtzmann gently but securely in a hug.

As Patty held her, she felt her friend's shoulders shaking with sobs. She kept her eye on the man she'd just choked, who still lay perfectly still on the floor. He was knocked out - not dead. She also occasionally glanced up toward the door where she expected the second man would come in if he chose to return any time soon. They really needed to get out of here sooner rather than later.

Holzmann's breaths were short and shaky as she sniffed back sobs. Patty hugged her tighter, noticing the skin on her bare arms felt quite cold. She glanced a few yards away where M had thrown the younger woman's jacket. She'd have to retrieve it later. For now, she rubbed her hands lightly over her friend's arms, trying to warm her up that way.

"I'm sorry I didn't get over here sooner... I guess I fell asleep in the middle of trying to get free." Patty frowned. "I didn't know whether to call out and ask him to stop or keep trying to loosen the ropes... He probably wouldn't have listened to me, and once I had drawn attention to myself, maybe I wouldn't have had the advantage of surprise..." She felt like she was rambling. "I wish I'd have woken up sooner... Got him away from you sooner..."

"It's okay." Holtzmann spoke, her voice still shaking, but her sobs subsiding. "I thought you were still asleep... I was scared to scream... I tried not to cry either. I didn't know what to do..."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Patty asked as she ran her fingers through Holtzmann's hair. She hadn't ever realized how long it was. It was soft too, though a bit tangled.

The younger woman shook her head.

Patty nodded. "That's okay... You don't have to. If you do want to talk about it later, I'm here. Now and forever."

"Thanks, Patty." Holtzmann glanced up at her for a moment before looking back down and laying her forehead against the older woman's chest.

Patty put her hand against the back of Holtzmann's hair and wrapped her other arm around the smaller woman's shoulders, holding her close as she ran her fingers carefully through her friend's curls as they remained silent for a few minutes. As they stood there, Patty noticed Holtzmann's trembling lessening as Patty's close proximity warmed her up a bit and quite likely reduced her level of fear at the same time.

Although Holtz had already assured her that the man hadn't hurt her, Patty couldn't help but to wonder what exactly had happened. Holtzmann wasn't one to get overly emotional or frightened. She wouldn't have been sobbing like she was without a good reason. Whatever had happened was significant. Patty hadn't ever seen her young friend so frightened and upset. Of course she had been scared for obvious reasons - the man who had kidnapped her and tied her to a chair was sitting very close, saying or doing something Holtzmann wasn't comfortable with... Her overalls had been undone - Holtz didn't do that herself... So at the very least, the man tormenting her was sitting very close while partially undressing her. That alone would have been terrifying for anyone.

Patty frowned as she continued holding her friend close and noticed a mess of bobby pins discarded on the floor. She had wondered how Holtzmann's hair had gotten so messy... M must have taken the pins out. Though it wasn't a gesture that was obviously threatening or sexual... it still made Patty's skin crawl to think of the strange man messing with Holtzmann's hair. It had probably scared the smaller woman too.

As she rubbed her hand lightly over Holtzmann's back, Patty closed her eyes and rested her chin on top of her friend's messy curls. She hoped Holtzmann would eventually talk to her about this - both to get it out of her own head, and to put Patty's mind at ease. She didn't think M could have done anything too terrible with Holtzmann so securely tied down. He couldn't even get her overalls down past her waist thanks to the ropes tightly wound around her ribs... Patty wanted her friend to reassure her that nothing worse had happened... but she also wanted to be there to support Holtzmann. This situation clearly bothered her, and even if it wasn't the worst possible scenario, that didn't mean it didn't still matter and wasn't still traumatizing. Patty wanted her to know she was here for her - that she could talk as much as she needed to. But she wasn't sure Holtz was ever going to want to talk about this. Maybe Patty wasn't ever going to know the whole story. Holtzmann didn't owe it to her. If she wanted to keep quiet about whatever had happened, that was her right.

Patty gasped softly and felt Holtzmann flinch as a phone began to ring echoing loudly through the entire otherwise silent room. It was a familiar tone - Patty knew it anywhere... It was Abby's ring.

With a frown, Patty looked toward the man lying on the ground. He had taken her phone, and obviously still had it on him. Maybe Abby had found the ghost after all and was calling the guy back with an update. "I got to get that, Baby." She spoke, loosening her grip around Holtz and reaching down to the unconscious man, feeling his pockets for her phone.

"Hello?" She answered, keeping her voice to a low whisper in case Lenny was around anywhere.

"Patty? Are you okay? Is Holtzmann okay?" Abby sounded out of breath.

"Yeah... For now. We knocked out one of the guys... Don't know where the other is. Holtzy and I are here together. We're alright." Patty rambled.

"Are you guys at a warehouse by any chance?" Abby breathed. Why did she sound to frantic?

"Yeah..." Patty frowned.

"Okay... Well, we found the ghost... Leroy Hayes... We found him." Abby explained. "I think he's on his way over there... And he's pissed off."

"At us?" Patty frowned.

"No... I don't think so..." Abby answered. "I guess he doesn't like those guys... Lenny and Miller... Says they're violent, vulgar bullies... And he said he was betting they'd have taken you guys to this warehouse outside of the city. He gave us the address and we're on our way, but it's like a thirty minute drive from where we were. He's probably gonna get there first."

"Well, that's a good thing, right?" Patty wondered. "He's on our side."

"Eh... maybe..." Abby didn't sound so sure. "He's not on their side... Don't know if that means he is on ours or not... You might want to try to get out of there if you can."

xxxxxx


	6. Chapter 6

****NOTE: I'm publishing the last three chapters of this here today. Chapter 4 was the last one you read if you've only been following this story here. I published the whole thing on archive of our own actual months ago because the people over there were more welcoming and responsive. I'm only publishing the rest of it so the story isn't incomplete. Unfortunately, the lack of reviews on this one when I could tell people were reading and favoriting and following and when I got gobs of responses elsewhere broke my delicate little writer-heart, so my other Ghostbusters stories are only on archive of our own and not here.**

 **xxxxxx**

 **CHAPTER 6**

 **xxxxxx**

Although her hands were still cuffed, Holtzmann grabbed toward Patty's hand as they made their way through the warehouse. She was feeling a little less brave than usual... probably because these past several hours had been entirely nightmarish. She'd been overpowered, threatened, abused, and groped one time too many and had for the moment lost all confidence in her ability to keep herself safe.

She felt Patty squeeze her hand as they walked. Neither of them knew where Lenny had gotten to, and they knew Miller could get back up at any moment, so they were trying to be both quick and cautious.

The warehouse had a rather basic floor plan, with few individual rooms. The way out was simple. In fact, the door they had come in from was visible just as soon as Holtzmann and Patty had gotten themselves out of the room where they'd been tied up. They just had to get across the large, open room without being noticed, and then they'd be good - assuming there was a place nearby they could flee to and call the police.

Holtz sucked in a sharp breath and stopped in her tracks as she saw Lenny step between them and the door. He glared at them with anger in his eyes as Patty stopped in front of her and glared back.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lenny growled.

"We're leaving." Patty growled back, squeezing Holtzmann's hand tighter.

"I don't think so." Lenny disagreed. "How'd you get untied? Where's..." He stopped himself from saying his friend's name, unaware that Holtzmann and Patty had already learned it on their own.

"You miserable bitches!" Miller's angry, strained voice echoed from somewhere behind them.

Holtzmann looked over her shoulder in time to see the man approaching. He looked absolutely pissed, and held a gun in his hand. Holtzmann wanted to kick herself for forgetting about that. They should have checked his pockets for his weapons... But they hadn't, and there was no use getting hung up on it now. "Patty, we should run." She whispered.

Patty nodded and did just that, dragging Holtzmann behind her as they ran off to the side. They were no longer headed toward the way out, but they were creating a distance between themselves and either of the men, so for now, it would have to do.

They made their way toward a set of metal stairs, creating a lot of noise as they ran up them.

"I seem to remember being told not to run up stairs when you're being chased..." Holtzmann noted as she followed Patty up the stairs to the second floor. There wasn't going to be a way out from up here...

"We don't have a choice this time." Patty squeezed her hand tighter as she lead the younger woman along a ledge.

Holtzmann let out an inadvertent shriek as she heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. She winced and shrunk down as Patty continued pulling her along. She wondered how good a shot Miller was... Could he hit them while they ran?

"Stop right there!" Lenny's rather serious voice growled from in front of them. He must have known the layout of the building better than they did. Somehow he'd gotten up here from a different set of stairs.

The two women stopped in their tracks, staring breathlessly at Lenny. Holtzmann frowned as she saw he held a gun too.

"Get on your knees." Miller's voice demanded from behind. "You're cornered..."

Holtzmann glanced up toward Patty, trying to read in the other woman's eyes what her plan might be. Obviously, when two men corner you and hold guns on you, it might be smart to do what they say... But then, when they're both already mad, and they've each already proven that they'll hurt you, maybe taking your chances and running would be a better plan.

"Get on your knees, or I'll shoot you in the back of the fucking head!" Miller screamed, his voice shaking with anger.

Holtzmann's chest felt cold as she watched Lenny taking slow steps toward them. They were trapped. They couldn't run this time, as they were on a ledge going only two directions. Short of leaping over the side and breaking their legs, the only ways to go were forward and backward - toward one violent man with a gun or another.

Reluctantly, they both sunk down to their knees. Holtzmann kept a tight hold of Patty's hand. she hoped Miller wouldn't shoot them anyway.

"Patricia..." Miller spoke, his voice sounding almost disappointed as he walked around so that he was in front of them. "Why the fuck do you think what you did was appropriate?" His words shook slightly. He was clearly angry.

Patty squeezed Holtzmann's hand tighter. Holtzmann could feel her own heart pounding in her chest. Obviously Miller wasn't happy. Patty had nearly strangled him to death... He had warned them both over and over not to try anything defensive... Now what was he going to do?

"Hm?" Miller asked again. "Why'd you do that, Patricia? You were doing so well listening to instructions and not doing anything dumb, and then you had to go and do that..."

Holtzmann squeezed Patty's hand back as she swallowed a lump in her throat. The older woman's hand was shaking.

"You were hurting my friend." Patty answered simply. "I had to make you stop."

Miller scowled, his eyes darting between Holtzmann and Patty. "Was I hurting you, Doll?" He asked with raised eyebrows as he stared down at Holtz.

Holtzmann swallowed. "Well... in the traditional sense, maybe not... Now, mentally, emotionally-" She yelped as she was cut off by Miller slamming the butt of his gun across her face. She whimpered and brought her bound hands up toward her temple, ready to shield herself from possibly being hit again.

"Hey!" Patty growled pulling Holtzmann toward her and hugging her arms around the smaller woman. "Why don't you bullies leave her alone? What's wrong with you? You see someone smaller and weaker than you and you keep picking on them because it's easy? That makes you a coward!"

Holtzmann gasped and squeezed her eyes shut as she heard Patty let out a pained scream and felt the woman flinch and shrink down while still holding tightly onto Holtz. She must have been hit too.

"Is that better?" Miller asked sarcastically. "Do you feel better about me smacking you around instead?"

"Of course I do." Patty's voice dripped with anger as she straightened herself back up.

Holtzmann forced herself to fix her own posture as well, trying to stand tall and proud like Patty. She couldn't let her fear take away her dignity.

"Oh." Miller sounded very matter of fact as he raised up his gun again, slamming it back down across Patty's face. The older woman winced and fell forward, releasing her grip on Holtzmann's hand as she caught herself with her hands.

"Stop!" Holtzmann gasped.

"Face it, girl. Your friend deserves this. She tried to fucking kill me." Miller growled, holding the gun up again, preparing to strike Patty a third time.

"No..." Holtzmann shook her head. "No, she didn't... She let go as soon as you passed out. She could have killed you. She didn't... She just wanted you to stop..."

Patty whimpered again as Miller swung out and hit her a third time. He raised the gun back up, and Holtz knew she had to do something, no matter how reckless it would be. She couldn't just sit here while this guy beat up Patty. Patty would have stepped in if it were her being hit. Holtzmann owed the older woman the same defense.

"Stop!" Holtzmann growled, leaping up and grabbing at the man's arm.

Miller raised his arm up so that she couldn't reach the gun. "Lenny, come and get her." He exhaled as though she was a minor inconvenience.

Holtzmann frowned and jumped up, grabbing ahold of his arm and pulling it down, effectively knocking the gun out of his hand.

They both looked to the floor, after the gun as it teetered precariously on the ledge, about ready to fall over. Holtzmann's eyes met Patty's. The older woman was closer to it than anyone else. Holtz nodded slightly, but immediately gasped and winced as she felt Miller's hands on her, pulling her back against his chest.

"Leave it, Patricia." He growled, gripping his hand hard around Holtzmann's throat and squeezing. "I don't need a gun to kill someone..." He reminded her.

Holtzmann whimpered as she tried to inhale. The pressure of Miller's hand squeezing her throat made that almost impossible. She could barely manage to breathe in any oxygen.

"Let go..." She rasped, bringing her hands up to her neck and gripping at his thick fingers. He only squeezed tighter, cutting off her voice entirely.

"Don't! I'll leave the gun..." Patty sounded out of breath as she raised her hands up in defense. "Look... I'm not going for it... You don't have to hurt her... I won't try anything..."

"Good choice." Miller growled, but still didn't loosen his grip around Holtzmann's throat. "You know, you really fucked up back there, Patricia." He noted again. "You were both doing fairly okay not fighting us on this... Besides a couple minor instances of little Jillian here getting scared and lashing out... Besides that, you were doing alright..."

Holtzmann watched with wide, terrified eyes as Lenny walked over and retrieved his partner's gun. He pointed both his and Miller's guns at Patty, who had no choice but to remain on the floor.

Miller's hand around Holtzmann's throat didn't let up, if anything, he was squeezing tighter and tighter. She clawed at his hand as she did her best to thrash her body under his grip.

"But then you had to go and almost choke me to death..." Miller shook his head and squeezed his hand tighter around Holtmann's throat. "And you didn't have to... I wasn't even hurting her. I made sure not to. I never wanted to hurt you, Sweetheart." He whispered into Holtzmann's ear.

"Let her go!" Patty's voice shook. "If you don't want to hurt her, then stop. You're hurting her now... Please let her go..."

"Why should I?" Miller laughed. "I warned you girls... You didn't listen. I've been telling you this whole time, both of you, that if you try anything, the other will be the one to suffer for it. I was just talking to her back there. I was being so gentle and careful... I could have hurt her a lot, and I didn't. But you choked me anyway... Now I get to choke her."

Holtzmann grabbed at his arms with desperate fingers as she still failed to inhale a breath. She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to either breathe or manage to speak enough to beg him to stop hurting her. She couldn't do either.

"Please don't do this." Patty's voice sounded further away. Maybe Holtzmann was losing consciousness... She hoped she wasn't dying... "She didn't do anything wrong... If you wan to punish someone, I'm right here... I'm the one who attacked you... Not her."

"Where's the fun in that?" He laughed. "I told Jillian if she screamed and woke you up, I'd hurt you. She listened to me. I still made her cry... Didn't mean to... But she kept quiet as best as she could... because she cares about you, Patricia. Now you get to see what your actions have caused. You didn't care about her enough to follow simple orders."

Holtzmann whimpered as she felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She could feel she was close to passing out. Miller kept releasing his grip just enough for her to breathe a tiny bit at a time, probably to prolong this - to teach Patty a lesson... But it wasn't enough. None of those tiny breaths filled her lungs. They just made passing out take longer...

"You're going to kill her!" Patty screamed.

"No... I don't think so, Honey... I don't want her dead... I just want you to see her struggle. See her in pain, knowing it's your fault. Can you breathe at all, Sweetheart?" Miller's hot breath whispered into Holtzmann's ear.

She couldn't answer. Couldn't even shake her head. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, but they shot open when she felt something wet and slimy splash down onto her arm.

Though her vision was growing a little hazy, she managed to take note of green slime running down her forearm. She tried to look up.

"What the hell is that?" Miller growled, loosening his grip as the slime must have dripped onto him too.

Holtzmann sucked in several shaking breaths, coughing and blinking back tears as she as finally able to breathe again.

"Ew..." She heard Lenny's voice from over by Patty. "Miller, what is that? It's glowing..."

As her breaths became more steady, Holtzmann glanced down at the green slime running down her forearm. She would recognize it anywhere... "Ectoplasm." Holtzmann rasped, feeling her eyes grow wide as her heart fluttered in her chest. "I think your friend is here..."

Miller pulled her closer against his chest, but wasn't strangling her anymore, more like holding her close in case he had to use her as a human shield. Holtzmann looked across the space at Patty as the older woman stared back from her place on the floor. Patty looked pretty upset. Holtzmann forced a smile and nodded slightly, trying to reassure her friend that she was alright.

"What do you fucking mean, my friend's here?" Miller growled.

"You mean Leroy?" Lenny sounded nervous.

Holtzmann nodded.

"I think he's mad at you." Patty noted with a stare so angry that Holtzmann could swear her eyes themselves might physically hurt the man.

"How did you guys..." Miller frowned as he trailed off.

"Leroy, buddy... if you're here, could you kindly get this brute off of me?" Holtzmann spoke. She had no idea of this guy's ghost would be willing to help them or not... but it was worth a try.

"Shut up, Jillian." Miller growled, grabbing her harder and pulling her back as he took steps backward. "Lenny, grab her." He nodded toward Patty. "We're getting out of here."

"Where are we gonna go that a ghost can't find us?" Holtzmann asked, very purposefully trying to make the man more nervous. "You know they can go through walls..."

"Shut up." He repeated, squeezing his hands around her arms to the point where she couldn't help but to wince.

"Leeeeeroooy... Over here..." Holtzmann called out.

"Shut up!" Miller growled, obviously getting angrier by the second as he dragged Holtzmann toward the set of stairs she and Patty had come up.

"Leroy! W-" Holtzmann was cut off when Miller spun her around and slapped her very hard across the face. She whimpered as she fell back, unable to catch herself very well with her hands still cuffed in front of her.

Holtz winced and shrunk down as Miller closed in on her. Just when she felt entirely sure that further pain was imminent, a rather sizable gush of green slime shot out from somewhere, knocking Miller off of his feet.

Holtzmann gasped and crawled backwards as she heard Lenny's shocked voice nearby.

"Jesus Christ!" He yelled. "Miller?!"

He must have lost his hold on Patty, because the taller woman was next to Holtz now, dragging her up to her feet and pulling her away from the growing puddle of green ectoplasm.

"Holtzy, let's get out of here..." Patty breathed.

Holtzmann nodded as she let Patty lead her back toward he stairs.

"Wait!" Lenny growled from behind them. "Stop! I'll shoot you!"

Holtzmann bit her lip and looked over her shoulder. Clearly, these guys were getting more and more desperate. He probably really would shoot them. She felt her mouth drop open and her eyes widen as another gratuitous gush of ectoplasm shot out toward the second man, knocking him backwards.

"Come on." Patty urged, pulling her further.

"Did you see that?" Holtzmann breathed. Patty didn't offer a response. "Patty, did you see all that ectoplasm? This guy must be, super-pissed. Or a super-ghost..." She cocked her head to the side. "Why would one ghost produce more ectoplasm than the next..?" She wondered out loud.

"We can talk about it later." Patty dragged her down the stairs and toward the door.

As they reached the warehouse door, pulled it open, and ran out, both Patty and Holtzmann let out startled screams as they collided with two other people. All four of them fell back, landing hard against the ground.

"Holtz! Patty!" It was Abby's voice. "Oh my god... Are you okay?" She breathed, offering a hand down to Patty as Erin quickly climbed to her feet next to her and helped Holtzmann up. She felt Erin pull her into a quick hug.

"Yeah... But we should probably go..." Holtzmann laughed nervously.

"Why?" Erin frowned.

"Well... Leroy's ghost is in there... and he's making a huge mess." Holtzmann pressed her lips together in a sort of smile and looked up at Erin.

"Shouldn't we go bust him?" Abby asked.

"Eh..." Holtzmann shrugged.

"Maybe not this time." Patty added.

"Well... I know he's going after the bad guys right now, but it might not always be that way... I think we should stop him before he hurts someone who doesn't deserve it." Abby suggested.

"No..." Holtzmann bounced slightly in place, feeling excitement crowd out what was previously fear. "Abby, he helped us... You should'a seen it... He was shootin' slime around in there like a fire hose!"

"Maybe we shouldn't go in..." Erin noted, likely remembering various examples of ghosts hitting her more heavily than the others with ectoplasm.

"So he is destructive then?" Abby's eyebrows rose. "What if he chooses to use that on someone innocent?"

"You want to punish him because he might do something?" Holtzmann frowned. "That doesn't seem fair, Abby. I have the capacity to build dangerous weapons, and I could choose to use them on someone innocent... Should I get sent to prison for it?"

Abby's shoulders slumped. "It's not like that... I know it doesn't seem fair, but he's a ghost... We can't risk it..."

"Yes, we can." Holtz frowned.

"Abby, he had every opportunity to slime us too, but he didn't. Maybe we can let this one go... If he becomes a problem later, we'll take care of him... but maybe we don't need to get rid of every ghost, every time." Patty suggested. "He's not hurting anyone who doesn't really, really deserve it."

"Miller was choking me pretty good and Leroy's ghost attacked him. I was right there... He could have indiscriminately killed everyone in the room. He attacked Lenny when Lenny said he was gonna shoot us too. He didn't do a thing to me or Patty. Just the two bad guys." Holtzmann explained.

"He was choking you?" Abby frowned, her brows furrowed as she narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah. But Leroy showed up and it was all fine... He's a good ghost... We should just leave him... Please?" Holtzmann pouted. "Abby, please? Please, Abby? Please?" She watched Erin and Abby make eye contact with each other. Erin shrugged and Abby exhaled.

"Fine." Abby gave in. "But just because he helped you guys... We're not letting every ghost we see have a trial."

"Thanks, Abby." Holtzmann jumped excitedly forward, ready to wrap her friend in a hug, but immediately remembering her wrists were cuffed together. She settled on pressing her body against Abby's instead and letting the other woman hug her arms around her.

Abby looked down at the cuffs and frowned before stepping back and letting her eyes look Holtzmann over with more scrutiny, likely noticing her insane mess of hair, lack of jacket, and probable bruises. She glanced toward Patty next, looking her over too.

"Are you guys alright?" Abby asked.

Patty shrugged. "More or less." She looked toward Holtzmann, probably unsure what to answer on her friend's behalf.

Holtzmann exhaled. She felt giddy at the moment... Whatever pain she knew her body was experiencing was all but buried under adrenaline and nerves. Coming across a ghost that was on their side was pretty exciting, and the amount of ectoplasm he'd poured onto her enemies was intriguing. Maybe this ghost was stronger than others. Maybe he was just more angry. Maybe all ghosts could shoot out that much ectoplasm and just chose not to. There was still so much to learn.

"Holtzmann?" Abby repeated. "You okay?"

"Oh... Um... Yeah." Holtz breathed, laughing as she realized she had forgotten to answer the first time.

"Let's get out of here." Patty suggested, putting her hand on Holtzmann's back and leading her back toward the car Erin and Abby had arrived in.

 **xxxxxx**


	7. Chapter 7

****NOTE: I'm publishing the last three chapters of this here today. Chapter 4 was the last one you read if you've only been following this story here. I published the whole thing on archive of our own actual months ago because the people over there were more welcoming and responsive. I'm only publishing the rest of it so the story isn't incomplete. Unfortunately, the lack of reviews on this one when I could tell people were reading and favoriting and following and when I got gobs of responses elsewhere broke my delicate little writer-heart, so my other Ghostbusters stories are only on archive of our own and not here.**

 **xxxxxx**

 **CHAPTER 7**

 **xxxxxx**

Back at the office, Erin and Holtzmann positioned themselves at a table while Abby and Patty stood a few feet away. Patty watched as Erin worked on the handcuffs. Holtzmann seemed overly wound up, which wasn't entirely unusual. She was staring at an open laptop as Erin fiddled with the cuffs on her wrists.

"Says here Leroy Hayes was murdered. I'll bet Miller and Lenny did it." Holtz noted, pausing for a few more seconds as she read whatever article she had open further. "The three of them may have robbed a bank last month. They were suspects, but the cops couldn't find any concrete evidence... So that's probably the money they were talking about."

"Holtzmann, hold still." Erin grumbled.

"I've gotta scroll down..." Holtzmann pouted, but put her hands back down where Erin could reach them.

"So Miller and Lenny probably killed him not realizing he had hidden the money somewhere or something... That would explain why he was so mad at them." Holtzmann guessed.

"So we let a ghost who's a bank robber go..." Abby noted with raised eyebrows and a small pout.

"A bank robber who saved me and Holtzy's lives, Abby." Patty reminded her.

Abby shrugged and exhaled. "I guess that's true..."

A silence fell over the room as Erin continued working on the cuffs and Holtzmann continued silently reading. Patty and Abby were content to watch wordlessly. Patty was deep in thought. Abby probably was too.

"I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair down, Holtzmann." Erin noted as she carefully maneuvered a bobby pin in the lock of the handcuffs around Holtzmann's wrists.

"Eh..." Holtzmann laughed and shrugged her shoulders slightly. "There's too much of it. Gets in the way."

"Well, it looks nice." Erin smiled warmly with a quick glance up toward Holtzmann's face before focusing back on the cuffs. "There we go." She said as they snapped open.

"Thanks." Holtzmann breathed, looking away from the computer screen and rubbing her wrists. They were a little bruised up thanks to her failure to stop trying to squeeze out of them.

"You're welcome." Erin smiled. "So what exactly happened? How'd those guys find you?"

Holtzmann's smile fell as she looked down at her hands resting on the table.

"I guess they had been watching Holtzy for a while." Patty explained on Holtzmann's behalf. "They wanted to take one of us, thinking the others would have no choice but to find Leroy's ghost and ask him where whatever money they were looking for was. Holtzmann goes out early in the morning for Pringles often enough that it was a pattern they noticed."

"Holtzmann..." Abby frowned and sounded almost disappointed. "I told you not to walk around alone at night... Can't you just buy extra Pringles in the daytime?"

Holtzman pouted. "I can't resist eating them all right away if I buy extras... They'd all be gone within the first hour..."

"Anyway... They didn't know I was gonna be there too, but they went ahead with their plan." Patty explained. She looked over toward Holtzmann who was sinking down in her seat as though trying to disappear into it. She clearly didn't want to discuss her experience or even listen to the others discuss the whole situation. "The rest is pretty self-explanatory." Patty wrapped up.

"Did they hurt you guys?" Erin asked with a frown. "Holtzmann, you said he was choking you... And the one on the phone said-" She trailed off as she looked at Holtzmann, who was avoiding eye-contact with everyone by now.

"We're alright." Patty cut in. "They got a little rough here and there... Liked to make pretty mean threats... But we're okay. They didn't do anything too violent, and it's over now. We're alright. Right, Holtzy?"

Holtzmann nodded.

"You sure?" Erin frowned.

"Yeah." Holtzmann forced a smile and nodded toward Erin. She glanced over toward Patty. Her eyes looked like she wanted to say something, but she held back.

"Why don't you and Abby go get us some coffees?" Patty suggested. "From that place Holtzmann likes. Maybe some Pringles..."

Erin laughed and nodded.

"Alright..." Abby frowned, likely sensing that Holtzmann wasn't her usual self, but probably understanding at the same time that her friend wanted a little space. She glanced over toward Patty, who offered a tight smile back. "We'll be back in like twenty minutes..." Abby noted as she followed Erin out the door.

Patty moved over toward the sofa where Holtzmann was sitting. She sat down next to her friend. "You alright?" She asked.

Holtzmann nodded, but frowned. "I don't like everyone asking me that so much..."

"I know... They're just worried." Patty assured her. "They want to know you're okay."

"I know... and I am..." Holtzmann told her, swallowing and looking over into Patty's eyes. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and exhaled. "That was..." She paused, trying to find the right words, or maybe debating with herself whether to say anything else at all.

"It's alright, Holtzy. You can talk to me." Patty reassured her. "It'll stay between us if you want it to." She could tell Holtzmann wanted to vent - to get the experience out of her head, but the younger woman also clearly didn't want to say any of her fears and concerns out loud.

Holtzmann stared into Patty's eyes. She opened her mouth, but froze, breathing in and out soft breaths.

Patty stared back. Holtzmann's eyes were wide. Her hair was looking crazier than ever, hanging around her face and falling wildly over her shoulders. Patty reached over and brushed some of the curls out of her eyes, but didn't ask her again if she wanted to talk. She didn't want to pressure her friend into talking when she wasn't ready.

"I don't regularly voice concerns having to do with my emotions..." Holtzmann rattled, looking down and fidgeting with her fingers as her voice shook slightly. "I will only say this once and don't need a response. I've read it can be therapeutic to put thoughts into words..."

Patty nodded, but said nothing, giving Holtzmann the space to speak as much as she wanted without interruption.

"As you know that was a really frightening experience. It's over and we're both okay." Holtzmann nodded, still looking down at her hands as she spoke on and on, her voice trembling the whole time. "When I was tied to that chair, and he was right there... with his hands... I wanted to scream and fight back, but he said he would hurt you if I did and that fear outweighed the other. I didn't want him to hurt you..." She whispered, looking up at Patty with large eyes as she put her fingertips lightly against a bruise forming on Patty's cheek where Miller had hit her with his gun.

"I'm okay." Patty promised in a small voice.

Holtzmann nodded, moving her hand back, swallowing, and blinking a few times before continuing.

"He messed up my hair and said gross, misogynistic nonsense. And he tried to shove his hand down my shirt, and it made me angry... and scared... really, really scared... I don't know what he would have done if you hadn't stopped him, Patty... I'm mad at myself for getting you into this - it should have been just me there... I was the one being careless... but my mistake cost you too, and I feel bad... But if I had been there alone... I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there... The possibilities are obvious and make me want to scrub my brain with acid."

Patty forced a smile and reached out toward Holtzmann's hand, holding it and squeezing it lightly. "I'm glad I was there, Baby. I'd rather him hit me with a gun a million times than leave you alone with him. You don't need to worry about what he could have done. He didn't get that chance and he's not gonna."

"I know..." Holtzmann laughed nervously. "I can appreciate the appeal of being logical here. We're both alright, so it's all good... There is no reasonable purpose to staying traumatized." She rolled her eyes slightly and shook her head as though fed up with her own emotions. "Also he made me kiss him and I really need Listerine if we have it." She exhaled loudly and leaned back in her seat, seemingly relieved to have gotten all of that out of her head and out in the open.

Swallowing, Patty frowned as she stared at her young friend, who looked so much less tense now. Holtzmann had to have been terrified through all of this. Patty certainly had been, and she wasn't even the one the men kept zeroing in on. Of course, Patty knew as well as anyone that watching your friend get hurt is in many ways so much more painful than being hurt yourself.

She felt tears stinging her own eyes as she looked down at Holtzmann. The younger woman was always so energetic and fearless. She certainly didn't scare easily, but this was obviously something that had really upset her, and understandably so.

Thinking about Holtz tied down, trying to keep her words and tears silent for Patty's sake while some jerk groped her, threatened her and her friend, and forced a kiss on her made Patty almost shake with anger. How dare he? How could someone look at Holtzmann, with all her innocence and naivety and want to hurt her like that?

Holtzmann frowned and pulled herself up straight, looking into Patty's eyes. "Are you okay, Patty?" She asked.

"Yeah." Patty spoke in a low whisper. She shook her head. "I'm just mad about the whole thing... They kept telling us both to cooperate so the other one wouldn't get hurt... and I did what they asked... and they kept hurting you anyway..."

"Well, you did strangle Miller with a rope." Holtzmann smirked.

Patty couldn't help but to laugh. "Yeah... I did..." She agreed.

"That was really cool, by the way." Holtzmann looked more serious now. "I don't know if I said it before, but thank you for that."

"You're welcome, Baby. I'd do it again if I could." Patty frowned.

Holtzmann smiled slightly and scooted closer to Patty, leaning her head on the older woman's shoulder and letting out a loud exhale.

Patty put her arm around Holtzmann's shoulders and pulled her closer.

"I think we'll be okay." Holtzmann noted. "That could have ended up a lot worse... It's done... We're back here... We did the obligatory discussion of our feelings. Now we can move on." She nodded matter-of-factly.

"Yeah." Patty laughed and laid her cheek down against Holtzmann's wild mess of hair. "I guess you're right."

 **xxxxxx**


End file.
